While concrete walls and Armco barriers are conventionally used to help protect drivers and spectators at motor racing circuits around the world, products from the range of FIREFLY® have been specified to provide the necessary fire protection periods within an East Midlands venue which has become a focus for E-sports enthusiasts in the UK.
The work at The Metronome in Nottingham is being carried out by one of FIREFLY’s approved installers on behalf of the venue’s operator, Confetti Media and is making extensive use of the manufacturer’s FIREFLY® Zeus Lite 90:30 barrier, along with the Collaroll product to create compartmentation throughout a basement area, and as parts of The Metronome are also used by Nottingham Trent University and its students as a recording and production studio, Krasi Fire Protection Ltd.’s contract is in fact being phased – with work due to complete to work around the academic year.
The Contract Manager for Krasi Fire Protection Limited, Daniel Oldacre, commented: “We began using the FIREFLY® barriers a couple of years ago instead of mineral wool based systems and have been getting very good training, specification and on-site support from the company. In the case of the contact here for the company which operates The Metronome, we put forward the FIREFLY® Zeus Lite 90:30 as the best product to create the necessary fire barriers as part of a major refurbishment and FIREFLY’s Technical Manager, Dave Allen, assisted in supplying the necessary compliant details. He is also attending site regularly to carry out the required inspections. It is quite a large and complex contract during which we will be installing barrier across the soffits and walls as well as protecting services such as ductwork. While some of the spaces are confined, FIREFLY® is easy to cut and fix in place and saves us a lot of time compared to conventional systems and although we are not installing horizontally here, we did have all 10 of our operatives trained up on FIREFLY’s Horizontal systems as part of the annual update on installation of the systems.” FIREFLY® Zeus Lite is ideally suited to this type of application, comprising a flexible woven fabric fire barrier that has been specifically developed for the vertical separation and compartmentation of extensive concealed spaces within buildings.
By offering 90 minutes integrity and 30 minutes insulation, FIREFLY® Zeus Lite 90:30 exceeds the minimum requirements regarding fire barriers under the Building Regulations’ Approved Document B (Fire Safety). The specially treated glass fibre fabric is strong and resilient as well as flexible while, crucially, the system’s certification covers the inclusion of service penetrations which some products do not.
Manufactured from woven and non-woven glass, the FIREFLY® range is designed to optimise resistance to flame and smoke as well as offer heat protection in a wide range of scenarios. The barriers are easy to install horizontally or vertically using a full selection of FIREFLY® ancillary
